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<title>it's gonna be alright (i've waited my whole life) by NeverMessWithTeddyBears</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23097637">it's gonna be alright (i've waited my whole life)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverMessWithTeddyBears/pseuds/NeverMessWithTeddyBears'>NeverMessWithTeddyBears</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>MacGyver (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, F/M, Future Fic, Marriage Proposal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 13:01:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,010</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23097637</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverMessWithTeddyBears/pseuds/NeverMessWithTeddyBears</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"I can't exactly pinpoint when it happened, but leaving you stopped being an option. Everything could go to shit, but I would always find a way to come back home to you."</p><p>His eyes look at her with such conviction she has no choice but to believe him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Riley Davis &amp; Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>239</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>it's gonna be alright (i've waited my whole life)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Riley's stress eating a bag of chips when she hears the front door open and all the breath in her body leaves her suddenly as she jumps up only to sit back down again and try to calm herself, playing with her hands as a nervous tick.</p><p>This week, they had such a close call, and she was stuck on another side of the world, forced to listen to the silence and wait until Mac's voice crackled back to her through the shitty connection. As soon as she was able to, she ran to the bathroom and puked, her hands shaking and tears streaming down her face as she dealt with what remained of her panic attack.</p><p>Riley thinks she should stop believing it'll get easier when she knows it won't; she'll never be okay with the idea of losing Mac, of him not walking through the door back home to her like he is right now.</p><p>It's funny, how she thought of his place as home long before she ever moved in, yet it never felt alien or strange. Even now, when instead of walking out the door and driving herself home after pizza and beer they had on the balcony to celebrate another successful case, she just follows Mac into their bedroom, it doesn't feel weird or different than it did before - if anything, it just feels right.</p><p>Mac walks into the living room, dropping the single backpack he always carries and a deep, tired sigh leaves him. Unable to control herself any longer, Riley leaps up from the couch and runs to him, pulling him into a deep kiss before hugging him tightly. If his fingers press into her hips a bit harder than they usually do, she doesn't mind and won't mention it.</p><p>Mac breathes in her scent, his face in her hair, and they just stay like that for a moment.</p><p>"It's so good to see you." Riley's not even sure who it was that said it - whether it was him or her or if it's just her thoughts being too loud - but it's the complete truth.</p><p>Slowly, he moves to kiss her again, which somehow turns even more urgent as time goes by, and he leans to lift her up by the back of her thigs, as Riley hooks her legs around him.</p><p>When they finally end the kiss, she looks at him as their foreheads touch, breathing in each other. "You really scared me, Mac."</p><p>"I know." he says. There's no apology but Riley doesn't expect one, anyways. This is his life, his job; it's who he is and the danger is just the necessary side-effect. It's who she is, too, and he wouldn't ask her to stop any more than she would him. Still, it gets scary, and they won't ignore their emotions, either.</p><p>She taps his shoulder lightly and he puts her back down on the floor. Riley takes his hand and pulls him to the couch. Mac sits down, taking off his jacket and throwing it to the side.</p><p>"Talk to me." Riley says, and it takes a second for Mac to look back at her.</p><p>"<em>Riles</em>..." he sighs. Riley just holds his hand tighter. "For the past few weeks, there's been a single thought humming in the back of my head. I've tried to ignore it - it's so early, and we're happy, and I don't want to mess it up - but, I realised I couldn't."</p><p>Riley furrows her brow as she looks at him, but although she's slightly confused as to what he's talking about, she's not nervous or scared. She knows Mac inside and out - can read him like a book, now - and she knows it's not anything negative. But still, she's concerned about what's gotten him so worked up that's not just the mission. "What is it, Mac?"</p><p>Mac sighs again, his other hand reaching into the pocket of his jacket. Riley's eyes don't leave him. When he takes what he needs, he turns back to her. "This time, I was about to do something so stupid, but no matter how bad the situation was, I just couldn't imagine myself dying." Mac says and Riley's breath catches. They've talked about this so many times since that day in Germany years ago and it never stopped breaking her heart, but this is the first time Mac's ever said anything like this. "I can't exactly pinpoint when it happened, but leaving you stopped being an option. Everything could go to shit, but I would always find a way to come back home to you."</p><p>Riley can feel tears fill her eyes and she tries not to let them fall. She tries not to take this as a promise - to not let this turn into something that she holds him to, that she expects of him, something that could break her heart - but it's so easy to get lost in it.</p><p>His eyes look at her with such conviction she has no choice but to believe him.</p><p>"And suddenly, that humming in the back of my head - the thing I couldn't quite admit to myself no matter how much it stared me in the face with every paperclip I picked up - became something I had to listen to."</p><p>Mac opens his hand and Riley finally looks down to see him holding a ring made completely out of a few paperclips put together. Suddenly, everything made sense.</p><p>"<em>Mac</em>..." she's speechless, looking between the ring and him, her tears finally falling.</p><p>Mac smiles at her, almost nervously, and Riley returns it, before he gets up from the couch and drops on one knee in front of her.</p><p>"Riley Davis." he says. "Will you marry me?"</p><p>Riley barely allows him to finish his question before she's throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss, screaming, "<em>Yes, yes, yes</em>!"</p><p>When she finally pulls away, she gives him her hand and he puts the paperclip ring on her finger. It fits perfectly.</p><p>And it's the most precious thing she'll ever own.</p>
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